While SEGA fans are likely familiar with the company’s arcade hit Galaxy Force, developer Tengen once had a game in development with a very similar name: Galactic Force. Despite being nearly complete, it would ultimately be cancelled. This episode of Game Saves looks at the game’s development timeline, from a very early test build to a version that is nearly finished, complete with a new name.

Continue Reading about Game Saves: Galactic Force Published on:
March 27, 2024

I was in high school when I first played the massively multiplayer online role-playing game Final Fantasy XI. I was one of the early North American players, importing the PC version from Japan prior to the release of the first expansion pack, Rise of the Zilart, as it wasn’t clear when, if ever, the game would come to the United States. There was a solid English-speaking community on the Ragnarok server, and I never got terribly far in the game […]

Continue Reading about Reflections on Vana’diel: Memories of Final Fantasy XI Published on:
June 21, 2023

As video game graphics became more advanced, the tools required to create them also became more advanced. Artists today can choose from any number of free and paid software tools, allowing for the creation of both 2D and 3D graphics that could only be dreamed about just decades prior. In the past, though, developers needed to develop those specialized tools themselves.
Following the release of 1972’s Pong, Atari’s arcade games grew increasingly complex. Lunar Lander in 1979 was the company’s first […]

Continue Reading about That’s RAD! Excavating Digital Atari Art Published on:
February 10, 2023

With a growing collection of digital files, it can be a challenge to identify what every file does. But you never know what you may find, including completely unseen games like Rock It Man for the SEGA Genesis.

Continue Reading about Game Saves: Rock It Man—A Punny Unreleased SEGA Genesis Game Published on:
October 26, 2022

One Prototype to rule them all, One Prototype to backup and save.
Long before Peter Jackson brought The Lord of the Rings to life on the big screen, others tried their hands at adapting the J.R.R. Tolkien fantasy classic. With the 1978 animated film directed by Ralph Bakshi just a few years prior, Parker Brothers began advertising a video game adaptation in 1982.
Scheduled for a winter 1983 release, The Lord of the Rings: Journey to Rivendell for Atari 2600 home consoles […]

Continue Reading about Game Saves: The Lord of the Rings Atari 2600 Published on:
September 30, 2022

While two versions of Police Academy are known to have been created at Atari, no playable versions had yet to be found. Within the Atari Coin-Op Division Corporate Records at The Strong, more than just a single playable version was founding, giving a glimpse into the creation of a long-lost video game.
By Andrew Borman

Continue Reading about Game Saves: Police Academy for NES Published on:
December 2, 2021

Staff from The Strong explore the unique challenges of preserving Nutting Associates’ 1967 coin-operated game Computer Quiz and the reel of film inside.

Continue Reading about Game Saves: Preserving the Film of Computer Quiz Published on:
August 5, 2021

Denise Chaudhari was the first woman hired for the then-secret Xbox project, where she designed more than just the original “Duke” controller that launched with the system in 2001.

Continue Reading about Designing the Duke Published on:
October 23, 2020

Digital rights management (DRM) tools have been used on software for decades. Companies install these protections to defend software from piracy or the unauthorized copying of the data. However, although designed with the best of intentions, DRM can have a negative effect on legally purchased software as well.
In 2010, Disney released the game Tron Evolution as a tie-in to the company’s Tron: Legacy movie, and distributed it on console and Windows computer platforms. While the console versions have their own […]

Continue Reading about Off the Grid: Tron Evolution and DRM Authentication Published on:
June 16, 2020